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Cut-throat gestures and get-it-up-you signs to the crowd might have been all the rage in the past couple of months but players have been winding up the opposition support for years.

But Gerry Collins is convinced if Hamilton’s players pull off a repeat of the Scottish Cup upset that made shockwaves on the last day of January 1987, none of Brian Rice’s team will repeat Albert Craig’s antics.

Adrian Sprott’s goal that beat Graeme Souness’ superstars is now part of Accies history but the aftermath sticks in former captain Collins’ mind as much as the pulsating 90 minutes that stunned the vast majority of the 35,000 crowd at Ibrox.

Well, it’s not every day one of your team-mates blesses every stand in the ground before the entire team is kicked out of a hospitality suite for over-celebrating the victory. Collins, now 64, smiles at the recollection of the mayhem that ensued that day.

He said: “We were bottom of the Premier League and we were toiling and on paper it should have been a formality.

“We couldn’t match their ability but we wondered if they could match the determination and endeavour we had as a squad.

“If they could then it shouldn’t have been a contest. On the day we were superb. We had Stevie Clarke in the middle of the park and he was a hard midfield player.

“He got the better of Graeme Souness twice and Souness lost the plot. He was running about the middle shouting at Clarky. He was too intent in trying to get him back, never mind about the game.”

Collins missed a great chance to make it 2-0 in the closing stages and admits that had he beaten Woods, a nerve-jangling finale would have been avoided.

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He added: “John Brogan broke forward and I sprinted from the halfway line. I still remember hearing John Lambie shouting ‘where does he think he is going? Get back’.

“I thought John would shoot and I might get a tap-in. He cut the ball back, which he never did, and when he did I was on top of it. I hit it to Chris Woods’ left and it caught his foot. I was ready to tap it in before Graham Roberts ran back and got it away.

“They had a great team with the likes of Woods, Terry Butcher, Roberts, Ally McCoist. I kept looking at the clock at Ibrox and it seemed to stand still. I thought it had stopped with five minutes to go. It seemed to be 85 minutes for about 10 minutes!

“At the end we couldn’t believe what had happened. Albert Craig was going around the stadium blessing all the stands at Ibrox.

“He was loving it and the referee Jim McCluskey was going berserk. He was shouting to get off or his next game would be in Siberia.

(Image: SNS Group)

“We were milking it for all it was worth. After the game we went into a hospitality suite. The Rangers fans were getting upset and shouting to get us out, so we were ushered out of Ibrox and on to the team bus.”

Collins admitted that the stars aligned for his team that day and believes they’ll have to do the same for Accies on Saturday if they are to get a result – although the fact they’ve got Rangers on their own artificial surface will give them a better chance.

He said: “The thing with Hamilton is I think the pitch plays a part and gives them an advantage.

“Big Brian Rice has done well since he went in there. But I think Accies have to be at their best and Rangers have to have an off day.”

Premier Sports will screen live and exclusive coverage of Hamilton v Rangers and Clyde v Celtic in the William Hill Scottish Cup fifth round. Available on Sky, Virgin TV and via the Premier Player. Visit www.premiersports.com for details.